He's a tough kid. All I gotta say is the public
can't say he's cheating! Welcome to Sounders
Scuttlebutt. I'm your co -host, Cameron Collins,
and I am here with the one and only Nicholas
Biala. What's up, Nick? Hey, doing good. How
are you doing? Doing real good. Sounders with
a great win. Battle of the Broldans. That was
quite the pour there. I'm not going to have the
can today. I've got a bottle, so we'll see if
this... It may not open. Aaron's didn't sound
good last time. I know. Oh, that sounded great.
That came out okay. But it is that time of year.
It is getting into August. And so I've got my
Sam Adams Oktoberfest. It's not September yet.
Come on. I know. It's getting closer. But Bernie
did a Costco run today, and they had it on sale.
I got my little bottle koozie, which I think
you'll appreciate. My Seattle Thunderbirds jersey,
Patrick Marlowe bottle koozie. We were at that
game together. Yep, yep. Good old Patty Marlowe.
My San Jose Sharks slash Thunderbirds crush.
Don't make that yourself. That's an R. That is
definitely an R. We were both in San Jose. That's
true. In Marlowe's Prime. But I went. I followed
him. I was a year after him. He got drafted in
98. When is the draft? April 98? Sounds about
right. And then I followed in the fall of 98.
So I was one year behind him, basically. Yeah.
One of my all -time favorite NHL players. Just
so great. So great. We also shout out to Steve,
a friend of the show who is a huge Sounders fan
who is selling a sailboat. If anybody wants in
on a sailboat, let me know. What's the joke?
It's not a joke. No, no, no. What's the joke?
It's like the two best days in a boat owner's
life is the day you buy it and the day you sell
it. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think he would have
someone buy in on it, too, and help him maintain
it and get, you know, equal use and stuff like
that. But, yeah, it's there a lot of work. That's
what I hear. Yeah. Especially when you are a
busy, busy person. But maybe it's time to start
a Sounders Yachting Club. Oh, we're going to
bring that meme back. Okay. Yes. Everything coming
around full circle. I love it. I'll put a link
to buying into the boat. Is that really going
to happen now? Is that really how we're going
to do this? That's great. That is. Get in on
it. Wow. I do also want to mention that if you
were listening on Spotify, you might notice that
we have ads. before and after the show there
may be some eventually in the middle part once
i figure out how to tell them that's where they
go but more importantly there are no ads on our
patreon so you'll hear later you'll hear a uh
ad for that but you join the patreon for as little
as one dollar and 74 cents you can get ad free
scuttlebutt love it love it speaking of scuttlebutt
Let's see. There's been a busy, busy week around
MLS. A lot of things have gone on between League's
Cup and some transfer windows and some signings
and debuts and all sorts of stuff. Where do you
want to begin? I mean, I think... I mean, the
big one really is Sun Hung Min. Yeah, yeah. And
we actually played, because I think last week
we talked about the transfer, but having him
come in a game and immediately draw a penalty
was pretty incredible. Yeah, and I mean, so first
off, the largest transfer window or transfer
fee in MLS history, Sun Hung Min went to LAFC.
It's exciting for the league. It'll be interesting
to see. Which direction he goes, if he's going
to be a Zlatan Ibrahimović -Messi type of signing,
a David Villa signing? Is it going to be like
Kaká? All those are very, very successful players.
He's still in his prime, though. He's on the
wrong end of his prime, but yes. He's not David
Beckham. He's not some of these other players
that came as a retirement. type player this is
a player someone who could still play in the
premier league who would still be signed in the
premier league right yeah right and they wanted
him to stay at tottenham yeah yeah and so um
but apparently he wanted to play for a real team
so um but did you see the interview he said uh
lafc were not my uh i don't know we're not my
first choice but uh then i talked to the uh gm
and he changed my mind or maybe he's the president
talk to somebody at the team i just i just wanted
to give a little shade to tottenham when i had
the opportunity um i mean he's gonna he has an
actual chance to win a trophy now i mean he won
one tottenham's only trophy what the the covet
is back tournament he used to play for portland
no no didn't they win the europa Yeah, they won.
I mean, I celebrate when Chelsea wins the lesser
trophies too, but that's not a real trophy. Come
on. That's Champions League Junior. I mean, is
that the equivalent of League's Cup, winning
a League's Cup trophy at this point? League's
Cup might be harder. But hey, so do you have
any thoughts about Son joining the league? I
mean, I think he's good for the league. I think
it's good for the Korean community in LA. It's
huge for them. I think not this season, perhaps
next season, the Sounders are in real trouble
if they don't get some quality players. I think
it further gaps the, or further distances the
gap between the haves and have nots. I, I, I
think we're fine this year though. I don't think
his impact with 10 games left is going to be
enough that, unless he, he might have big moments,
but. You know, he's a late signing. Obviously,
the Sounders can score goals most of the time.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Don't give the
most of the time qualifier. Again, in the last
10 games, they're averaging over three goals
a game. Yeah, but you should be scoring. If LA
Galaxy can score four or five goals on a team,
why are we only scoring two? That's what I'm
saying. That's what I'm saying. Okay, who do
you think is your emulation of, like, okay, this
is an honest, fair question. We're going to do
this live. Who's your emulation of who do you
think is the team that you want to emulate offensively
in the league? I mean, if last year's LA Galaxy,
maybe. We'll choose this year. Probably Cincinnati.
Okay. I don't know enough about how they're doing.
I mean, no, we're doing great. My problem is
the Sounders. are like Gonzaga. They're playing
down to the level of their bad opponents. We
play up against Cruz Azul, but why are we playing
down to Tijuana? Come on. Let's put in those
goals. No reason to make those shaky. Let's beat
a San Jose. San Jose is on a little run, though.
They're on a little tear, but let's beat those
bottom -of -the -table teams. Let's make it tough
against... Let's play good against... We play
good against a good team. And this is the dynamic
that I love about you and me, is the... Pessimist
versus optimist and realist. I get it. How are
you not a pessimist being from Buffalo? That's
what I don't understand. Because I use data.
And I pay attention to that stuff. And that stuff
just drives me nuts. You know what data says?
The Mariners have never won the World Series,
let alone been. For example, two games ago, two
games ago against Tijuana, at halftime, Discord,
our Scuttlebutt Discord, there were people panicking
and thinking that, oh, this is the worst, we
can't do anything. And the numbers just, and
the eye test just didn't stack up to that. But
I think if you look at the Sounders over the
last, we'll say five years, we have gotten used
to the Sounders being a dominant team and not
being able to score. We've gotten used to the
Sounders putting 20 shots and getting zero to
one goal. And it's going to happen in soccer.
I get what you're about to say. This happens
too much. But with the previous nine games, you
were seeing a sustained run of this exact team
doing this. 26 goals in the last eight games.
And four or five offside goals. We expected this
the whole season, so am I glad they're doing
this? Hell yeah. And imagine what we'd be doing
if we actually had a number nine. I'm just saying
enjoy the moments and try not to be so negative
all the time and go, oh, here we go again. I
enjoyed LA Galaxy. I will say the first half
of Cruz Azul was one of the most frustrating
games I've seen all season. because we should
have been scoring and we weren't. I want us to
take those big chances against big teams too.
Now we dominated the second half in a way that
was incredible. But keep in mind, even in the
first half of Cruz Azul, we got a goal that got
called back on offside. So we're creating those
opportunities. And that one was offsides. Yes,
yes, that one was. That one in the second half
wasn't. But that's another thing. That's the
quickest way to drive me nuts is to make arguments
that don't even pass the logic test. I don't
want to call someone out necessarily, but someone
was saying, oh, well, Jesus Ferreira, another
offside goal for him. No, that was the first
time he was offside. I also don't mind offsides
because... It shows that we're pushing forward,
right? This isn't like we're not pushing forward
and they just happen to be offsides. There are
times where players like, I think it was Rothrock,
didn't get back onside one time and it was frustrating
yesterday because if he had just gotten back,
we would have had three players that could have
gone through and any of them could have gotten
the ball. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's when it's
frustrating to me. If we're getting more offsides,
the last... seven games is because we are pushing
forward. And this is what I've wanted to see
all season. And I think Brian actually made a
comment along those lines. Very similar echoing
what you said. Like, Hey, I don't mind offsides
when it's, you know, just missing the run timing
a little bit. I mind offsides when you're not
getting back into position, creating an issue.
Yeah. Yeah. Now with all that said, we're coming
in hot here. Yeah. This is some champagne. This
is some champagne soccer lately. We've been.
And I think one of the greatest... This is the
team we expected them to be all season. Well,
we said right from the get -go, and many people
said that this Sounders team is, on paper, the
deepest team in MLS history. And... I can't believe...
Not anymore. They were, though. They were. But
no, they still are. They still are. I mean, your
roster is your roster. Oh, yeah, but I mean,
the players hurt. Like, you can't look at today's...
I don't think if you look at who's healthy now,
they are that. They just happen... The backups
are just stepping up and doing what they need
to do. Well, no, I would disagree. They still
are deep. But we're an injury away from the season
being in real trouble, I think. Oh, no, 100%.
There's no other team. Against LA Galaxy, the
Sounders were without two of their DPs, both
injured. Two more players who were DPs in JP
and Paul Areola, injured. Your center back, your
starting center back, your best 11, or sorry,
not best 11, he was finalist for Defender of
the Year last year in Jackson -Reagan, out for
the game. teams don't withstand that kind of
stuff and, and dominate a game for nothing. That
just does not happen. No, that's how, I mean,
we, we, I don't think there's been a team in
the history of soccer that has a left mid as
deep as we do. It's insane. And, and so, and
so I want to just, cause I, cause I'm, I'm going
to expect. There to be some negative discourse
and probably some, there, there going to be some
very valid points. If we don't get a transfer
signing in the next couple of weeks, there'll
be some solid points. I'm worried. I'm worried
just because we're not, we usually hear these
rumors and we're not. So I'm a little worried
because even if it's just a backup, we need somebody
that can get more minutes at this point. Well,
I don't think we need, we need a. I don't know.
What do we need? It depends on how... Did they
ever announce what... I mean, I know we'll get
to Sounders, but might as well just... We're
talking about Rosnack. What... We knew the minimum
was two to three weeks, but I didn't hear the
actual results on Friday. Did they announce them
today? No, no. They just... At least I haven't
seen that with Rosnack yet. But it sounded like
Kent was the worst of the two. No, I mean, he's...
It's... A 4C tear is not only... his hamstring
completely tearing apart, but tearing off the
ligament. I don't know how he walked off the
scene. Kind of like what Kellen Rowe had a few
seasons ago. It might be worse. He's out three
to six months. That may be the last we see of
him in a Sounders uniform, which I hope not.
Are you sure? I didn't see it that dire. 4C is
three to six months minimum. And if you do surgery,
if you don't do surgery, you never know if it's
going to come back again. And they're saying
he's not going to do surgery, which surprised
me, with something that is that bad of a tear.
That's not what I saw, so I was kind of curious.
Schmetzer said 4C tear. Also reported by Sounder
at Heart and others. It's bad. I mean, it's not
good. I really hope Albert is good. I will get
into it. But something to talk about is Jesus's
role as a center attacking mid. So let's make
sure we get back to that. Yeah, because that
I mean, that's going to be his position moving
forward. But yeah, I mean, I think the Sounders
need to bring someone in. And the position they
probably need it. They just need another body
at striker. Honestly, he can be the same quality
as Osase. Just bring in another body you can
bring in so that we have one more person in the
rotation. Well, I mean, we'll see what happens
with the transfer window. We'll see. It's a challenge
because you don't necessarily want to sign someone
for a short -term injury replacement. No. So
you want to look ahead to what's coming up. But
unless we're signing more players, we would only
be getting Jordan back. We only have one player
coming back at that position. Yeah. But we didn't
sign Osase this season. So it'll be interesting
to see. I think that this kind of comes down
into the idea of roster construction and how
you want to construct your roster. Now, in an
MLS... cap situation I am I've always been in
the mindset of build a deep deep team and that's
what we've done successfully in our heyday when
we were winning MLS Cup in 2019 we had more TAM
players than anyone else in the league and that's
something that we're doing really well is spending
our money effectively getting those kind of that
kind of depth and those kind of top to bottom
players versus just top loading and then having
a, you know, a league minimum player. And let's
remember starting 11, 22 players, ideally who
we would be bringing in. Yeah. In this window.
The question is the question I have, and this,
I don't think is a, I don't think it's a Craig
problem. You know, you know, I'm positive on
the things that Craig can do considering the
restraints that he has in terms of money, both,
salary and salary cap wise, but this is the third
straight signing they've tried to bring in that
has turned us down because they wanted to stay
in Europe. Okay. So is that a picking problem?
Are we, are we shooting for the moon and failing?
So it's like, all right. And then our backup,
I mean, we, we had, it was our first guy and
our second guy last time. And really they were
probably like our fifth and sixth guys because
you don't hear about some of them, but. If players
are deciding they don't want to come here from
Europe, how do you get a player that does want
to come here? How are you selling players to
come? Well, I think... It's been a while since
we brought in a player of that. I mean, De La
Vega, is he the last one that we brought in from
somewhere else? And not from Europe. We brought
him in from South America and he was rebuilding
his career after injury. I mean, Ryan Kent. Ryan
Kent, but I think special circumstances there.
But yeah, maybe that's what we need to do. And
then I'm noticing we're getting a weird echo
going on. Are you catching that? Nope. Okay.
I do not have it. Okay. It might be me. Anyhow.
Yeah. So there is that. And I hope people are
remembering that. I just want to kind of get
ahead of the narrative that we're not doing things
in the transfer windows. Because we brought in,
you know, Jesus Ferreira. We brought in Ryan
Kent. We brought in Paul Areola. i'm not going
we're not doing anything in the summer transfer
window which is the big one generally yeah yeah
but i mean in in the end i don't care when we
bring people in i want to bring the right people
in that that's what's important to me yeah our
difference seems to not be i mean i thousand
percent agree with you that it's that i want
them to spend money and i did because it's not
my money spend the money go get us a player but
get us get us gabriel peck I mean, it's not always
that simple. Just look at our team down south.
Look at Portland and their DP situation that's
going on there where a player just decides, hey,
I'm no longer going to play with you. Do you
want to live in Portland? I mean, not the city.
Yeah, sure. I'd love to live in Portland. Would
you want to play for the Timbers? I mean, it
just feels like these are the kind of issues
that are going on. So Santi Marino is going to
go join Fluminense. little bitch owner though
that's what happens um but also take a look down
in dallas um you know the hunts run that team
that's such a poorly i know but but like look
at lucia lucia costa he was there for you know
six months and he's gone yeah it's it's just
crazy I don't want to play for the Hunts. He's
not the one that runs it. The owner is the other
brother. 100%. But with the Sounders, you get
these people that stay with the club and grow
with the club. So that kind of plays to your
question here of why aren't we getting these
targets? It could be as simple as the types of
players we're targeting. maybe don't buy into
the ethos. There's just not a big enough sample
size to really effectively answer that. So all
of this is really speculation. But I will say
that by large and large, the players we do bring
in buy in to what we're doing and more effectively
integrate with the team, I think. Yeah, and I
think when they don't, it's a coaching issue.
And I mean... GM versus coach are not on the
same page. And that kind of goes across Craig
and Garth before him. But that's kind of the
way it is for most failed signings. That's kind
of how things go wrong in signing land. So I
don't think that's really necessarily specific
to the Sounders. No, but I mean... Yeah, the
way that we seem to earn spots for playing time,
I'm still not really understanding. I mean, I
don't see anything that different from Pedro
now than we were saying before, other than he's
playing on the left, which is a natural position.
So he's playing a little better. Largely, he's
playing a lot the same. He just wasn't getting
the minutes. I mean, it... That's a challenge
that we have as armchair beer drinking analysts
here and analysts I'm using very loosely. We're
not there at practice every day. But we get it
right more often than some of those people who
are there every day at practice. I don't want
to toot our own horn, but I will say that, you
know, I think we have the Messiah. I enjoy an
example of that. Hey, let's talk about that.
Last year we were nailing all this stuff left
and right. And let's talk about that. How do
we feel about the nickname Messiah? I mean, it's
the name that Schmetzer gave it to him. So I
think we got to stick with it. I mean, Apple
TV jumped on that. The announcing team were jumping
all over that. I made a fun little image that
I posted to our Discord after he scored the first
goal. But I mean, he's even exceeded. And I'm
trying not to. toot my own horn too much, but,
you know, I called this. I said that Danny Mussofsky,
if he gets that first goal, he's good for five
to ten all comps. I mean, I think it comes down
to, though, you... How do I word this? How do
I word this? And I know I'm an optimist. But
you are also given information, because I'm given
the same information, through conversations that
make you come to opinions that are based, again,
like you said, on facts and figures and based
on other talent that was brought in it was clear
the kind of ball we were going to play yeah and
that he naturally would become a recipient of
some of the more goal dangerous decisions by
our left and right right wings yes yes i mean
that that's like that's like saying that would
be like us you and i disingenuously at the beginning
of the season saying something along the lines
of you know this snyder brunel guy i think we
should i i think i think i think he's gonna get
signed to the first team and and that he's gonna
be so like when when we were when we were being
explicitly told that this kid's something special.
Right. But it wasn't really being. Yeah. Now
the Messiah one took a little more extrapolation.
I mean, you had to think about what they were
pushing for. Yeah. How much minute, I mean, and
you said it yourself in the discord, you didn't
expect them to get this many goals because you
didn't expect them to get this many minutes.
Yeah. But I did expect him to finish on the chances
because he was consistently putting himself in
great spots. And he was just not putting them
through. And I think maybe we're going to see
the same thing with Jesus. Hey, did you realize,
by the way, I do believe in the David Goss theorem,
which is kind of the idea that new players coming
into a team, it takes them six months to a year
to really integrate fully and to reach their
full potential. Obviously, that's really working
out great for Danny Mussofsky. It's certainly
starting to come to fruition with Pedro, although
the caveat was the health on his side, so it
was tough to tell if he would have integrated
better earlier. But did you realize that Danny
Mussofsky is, in fact, Nevada's all -time leading
high school scorer? Yeah. And so, I mean, this
is a guy that's got a history. He just hasn't
done it at the pro level. He's had flashes at
the pro level. but I don't think he's had the
opportunity necessarily that he's had with us.
I mean, he was more that second striker coming
off the bench type player once he was in the
MLS. I mean, he might've done it. Was he at Reno?
Where was he at? Yeah, he did play with Reno.
He had a little bit of success there. He was
the RSL. He maybe had a little success and then
LA, but nothing like he's been, which is funny
because last year he was very frustrated. He
wanted more minutes. Truly one of the nicest
players I've ever met. But that's tough because
you also got to remember, you know, you had Jordan
and then Raul. So you got those two players competing
for minutes. You know, like Danny at best is
where Osase is right now without the injury.
You know, so it's just tough for him to find
those minutes. So it's great to see him. 47 goals
in 88 appearances for UNLV. Jesus. So Danny,
it's great to see him getting those. What's really
interesting is you look at our midfield, and
you've just got such great delivery from so many
players. And not even midfield. Look at the backs.
Look at Alex Roldan dropping crosses after crosses.
Really, these last 10 games, I've been seeing
beautiful service from Alex. Definitely want
to highlight and point out. It's been really,
really great to see. Matter of fact, in this
last game against LA Galaxy, Alex Roldan, foot
mob had him at an 8 .7. That is an insane score
for a right back who did not get a goal. Yeah,
and maybe his brother being there, not Christian,
his other brother. Oh, not Hercules. It's the
Battle of the Broldans. Yeah. Caesar. Yeah, Caesar.
Yep. Who is their... I think he's the eldest.
Yeah, he is the eldest, but I'm trying to think
of what coach he is. I think he had a doctor
of some sort, like an athletic trainer. Yeah.
He's been there for a while. He's been there
since 2018. Before that, he was at Colorado,
Orange County, Chivas USA, and then... Started
off with LA galaxy back in the 2015, 16 season.
Yeah. He's the head athletic trainer. Yeah. So
cool. It's cool. The battle of the Brawl Dans.
Yeah. He's older than me. He is by far the oldest.
Yeah. I mean, that's just, it's so good. I mean,
I love having, I love having a team that you
can just really, that are just good people that
you're just so happy for their success. Uh, yeah.
Do you want to get into the, do you want to get
fully into the LA galaxy game? Do you want to
talk a little bit more? Yeah, we'll take a break,
but first let's, let's talk about, uh, league
scores. Yeah. Tim Ford, um, who of course was
the one who screwed the Vancouver in the playoffs
when he ran into a player, uh, who was going
to have a one -on -one chance on the keeper.
Yeah. Uh, they, they were mad at him again. for
their game against San Jose. At least I didn't
watch the full game, obviously, but I watched
the replay and I did not see anything that seemed
suspect to me. Seemed like Vancouver fans crying,
but he's now been reported to pro referees because
his wife Instagram had pictures of him at an
LAFC game in LAFC gear from like seven years,
I don't know, seven years ago, whenever they
started. So I don't know. I mean, it wasn't even
an LAFC game, but I guess the argument can be
they're above LAFC in the standings. but it seems
like then you wouldn't be helping San Jose because
they're right next to LAFC in the standings.
So I don't know, but they reported those things
to pro referees and apparently he's going to
be under investigation, but I doubt anything
comes from it from pictures from seven years
ago or something. Yeah. I think there's plenty
of reasons to be skeptical of referees. This
just seems like sour grapes from Vancouver fans
who just signed a 38 year old. past his prime
player and seem to think it's a good thing yeah
by the way just kind of going back full circle
to what we were talking about earlier about how
deep we are we we talked about jordan we talked
about albert paul uh joe paulo ryan kent we jackson
reagan the name we didn't even talk about throughout
this whole thing stephen fry was it even in the,
it's just, when we got to LA galaxy, but we can
mention now he, he has cleared a concussion protocols.
Yeah. So, I mean, it was just good to, you know,
good to see that. Um, I don't think having spoken
with stuff, haven't spoken with, with Andrew
Thomas. Uh, I, I don't think there's whatever
the decision of the club is. There's, there's
no, um, controversy here. I think we're just
blessed with options here. We know that League
Cup is Andy's tournament. He will have it all
the way through. I expect Steph to start against
Minnesota. Assuming a week of training, I do
expect that. I just think they won't rush him
back, whatever it is. If he says he's ready,
yes. uh if he's not then i think that he could
sit another game just based on how well andy's
been playing yeah is playing very well i mean
keeping in mind that of the goals that have been
scored against him how many have been penalties
most penalties and others were just not stoppable
yeah The thing about Steph is he's been training.
Before the last two Leagues Cup matches, he was
out there training before the match. Well, he
was on the bench, although if for some reason
Andy Thomas got hurt, I would have expected Jacob
Castro to go in, only because in Leagues Cup,
it is a mandate that you have to dress three
goalkeepers. Which is why we had the young kid
from the Academy up for those other matches.
Correct, correct. Anyways, yeah, just some fun
stuff to talk about. It's been, you know, it's
great. It's great not only to have a, you know,
a three -game stand in seven days with three
wins all against Mexican teams in Leagues Cup,
and then following that up with a 4 -0 road victory.
These are, this is just a good time. So this
is just a good time to be playing some really
good attacking soccer. Yeah, for sure. All right,
let's take that break, and we'll come back after.
Hey, everybody. This is one of your hosts, Cameron
Collins. Now. I know we said this time's time
for a break, but really, it's a time for me to
talk to you about our corporate overlords. And
our corporate overlords are us. That's right.
We would love it if you would head on over to
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Podcast. We will put the link here in the show.
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It's going to be good times. Good times. Great
oldies. Oldies. 104. Okay. So, we're back. On
to the match. LA Galaxy. Frank McDonald mentioned
that Snyder Brunel became the second Academy
player from the Sounders to score in his MLS
debut, joining Rothrock. He is the youngest debut
scorer in MLS or any previous Sounders era. Pretty
incredible. Wait, repeat that last part. Youngest
debut scorer. Gotcha, yes. Or youngest. Yes.
Obed scored at a younger age, but it was not
on his debut. Right. And there has been non -MLS
debut scorers, but none were as young as him.
Yes. And then a big shout out to Christian Roldan.
300 appearances with the Sounders. Wow. That's
incredible. Which is incredible for a field player
to hit 300. That's just amazing. Yeah. Definitely
shows. his longevity and why he will be a Sounders
legend forever. I just, I, I love that. He was
acquired with like the 15th pick in the MLS draft
that he was scheduled to be a top three pick
for whatever reason. He kept falling and falling
and falling. And that was one of Garth's first
moves as a GM trading with his former team. Because
it was RSL's pick that we traded in order to
get Christian rolled on. And that was the infamous
fist bump. Legendary Sounders moment. It's one
of those that I think when you look back at the
construction of this team over the years, it's
something that changed the future of the team.
I mean, it's like the Sonics trading Scottie
Pippen. It went the opposite way for the Sonics,
but yeah, they traded. I mean, I like Olden Paul
in these. I know him. He's cool, but I still,
Scottie, I don't think you can argue that Scottie
Pippen wasn't a better NBA player. I mean, you're
not wrong. Then it would have been Olden maybe
playing with Michael Jordan in that TV show.
The last dance. Wow. But that's not how it works.
You know that. You know that. So here we are.
We are, you know, we are back from League's Cup.
We're on the road against LA Galaxy. LA Galaxy.
Here's the thing about LA Galaxy. The first two
letters of LA are the first two letters of lady.
And the first letter of Galaxy is Gaga. And you
were at Lady Gaga instead of on the last episode.
What's going on here? I mean, I made the right
decision. Of course you did. Only because Lady
Gaga is just amazing live. If you have not gone
on to see her live, just make that happen. It's
so good. But unfortunately, just the way that
our... recording timing was was working it was
it was hey we got two out of three and that's
kind of the mo we've been doing all season which
is yeah trying to go okay if we can get two out
of the three of us to record great if we can
get all three of us even better but we want to
we'd prefer to not um go long periods of time
without recording which has happened in the in
in in the past and then that's kind of what we're
trying to do so Was really jealous because I
did listen a few hours after you recorded. I
did listen while I was on the road the next morning
at like two in the morning and was just kind
of talking to myself while listening to the podcast
and chiming in like, no, or like at this point
or wanting to, wanting to jump in and, and, and,
and, and make a point. And so, so good job on
the episode. It's always good to hear you. It
just made me really sad that I feel like we have
not had enough episodes with all three of us
this season. It's been just kind of a funky year
with, with life getting in the way. Yeah, totally.
Totally. And, you know, I think perhaps it'll
change, but yeah, it's hard when, when some of
us work it. at night and others are only available
at night. Yeah. Yeah. Well, hopefully that will,
hopefully that will change soon. Yeah. Yeah.
So, so lineups come out. LA has been dog shit,
but they have had a strong leagues cup. Yeah.
Looking good in those games. Pantsil and Gabriel
Peck and Royce all look great. I mean, and they
played the same three teams we did. They got
a 4 -0 win against Santos. Though, keep in mind,
Santos had two red cards to start or end the
first half and then start the second half. So
there is that. And at the time the red cards
came, the score was 2 -0. So, you know, read
into that what you want. You still got to play
the games. That's how that works. They got a
1 -1 draw against Cruz Azul, and then they beat
Tijuana 5 -2. And so it's really interesting
to see them get some good results for them and
rightfully advance to the knockout rounds of
League's Cup. So I was coming into this game
fairly nervous. LA Galaxy have been a boogeyman
of us. I expected them to win. Yeah. We played
LA Galaxy more than any other team in our MLS
history. By the way, so let's talk about that
in the pregame. We had our prediction challenge.
Oh, yeah. Real quick, we'll do the Tijuana game
because we did not have that. In the Tijuana
game, we had five people with the highest scores
there. Eric, Daniel Rowe, we had Alex, we had
Paul, and we had Bernie, Bernadette, my wife.
So apparently the ladies in my family have been
killing it lately between Roma and Bernie. But
then against LA Galaxy, our winners. This was
a trio of women in this one. So hats off to the
ladies kicking all of our asses. Bernie, Roma,
and Julie Z. So good job against LA Galaxy. All
three of you tied for the win there. So good
job there. Having a lot of fun with the prediction
challenge. So I'm really glad that everyone's
participating in that. um definitely and get
your uh selection in before the match you had
to remind aaron yeah yeah you know but but everyone's
everyone's been pretty good about that it's been
it's been really good um looking forward to doing
you know the end of the season and giving some
prizes out. I was thinking about that, by the
way. Maybe at the end of the season, we have
kind of an end of the season party, maybe a live
show or something like that. That'd be fun. Might
be a technically difficult thing to pull off,
but maybe not. I got the equipment. It's just
a matter of getting a room somewhere. Maybe a
little something down at one of the partner bars
that we attend at. Yeah. Sometimes public has
them. I mean, there's one that's both the public
and grill FC partner bar. So it works out. Yeah.
Yeah. So maybe we can make that work. It's just
something to think about for the future. With
that in mind, the lineups come out and, and the
Sounders Sounders starting 11 is, is kind of
a little bit of a surprise, not seeing Jackson
Reagan in the starting 11. I wasn't sure if we'd
see Stephen Fry or not, but a little bit of a
surprise to not see him. I mean, I hadn't heard
that he cleared. I had heard no discussion throughout
the week that he had cleared concussion protocol,
so I did not expect to even see him on the bench.
I was surprised he was there. Okay. I had heard
some interviews with Brian where he had cleared,
so maybe I didn't know if how much of that was
widespread knowledge. Yeah, so liking our lineup.
And then the game kicks off. And I think right
from the get -go with having Alan Chapman as
a center ref got me a little nervous because
Alan has kind of a history of letting physical
play go. However, the Sounders do perform better
under him than LA Galaxy does. He's particularly
bad for LA Galaxy. Well, that's kind of where
the script flipped because normally a rep like
him or who's the Canadian? I know. I know who
you're talking about. We had him just a few games
ago. Yep. Oh, my goodness. My brain. I'm not.
Yeah. But yes. But anyways. Between the two of
them, I feel like when we get drawn with them,
the games end up becoming a little physical.
Drew Fisher. Thank you. Drew Fisher was who I
was thinking of. I just feel like when we get
drawn with them, it's not always a good thing
that teams get to be a little more physical with
our players. he actually had been good for a
galaxy at home they have nine wins all time and
eight of them are at home under chapman versus
the sounders 13 wins all time four away but we
only have one drawn four losses but overall we've
we've been under him quite a bit more uh and
we 13 wins five draws and seven losses all time
to their nine five and eleven but what was really
interesting about this especially the first 15
20 minutes of the game is i thought that there
were a number of non -calls That were kind of
going against the Galaxy. I thought there were
some calls that I've seen get called as fouls.
And the Sounders bodying up against a LA Galaxy
player. And Alan Chapman just saying, play on.
So I was kind of pleasantly surprised. But I
wasn't going to be upset if they called those
fouls. Because they looked... Like they could
have been to me. Um, yeah. Victory was a fourth
ref too. I mean, Corey Rockwell and Felicia Mars
call. I don't know them, but apparently they
have a lot. I mean, they were talking about on
the Apple broadcast, how many games of, uh, with
Eunice Mark. Catchy at the, the VAR and just
how much talent referee talent there was actually
on our game, which was interesting. I wonder
how much of that is Sunday night soccer. I'm
curious how much goes into the referee assignments.
That's how it works in the NFL, right? Like,
they put the big refs on the big games. Yeah.
So with that in mind, I mean, right from the
get -go, it certainly looked like the Sounders
came to play. You know my favorite thing is our
little momentum meter, and the Sounders were
definitely just dominating in that first half
for sure. There's a lot of green. But more interesting
to me is that both teams were going up and down.
I felt like there was a very open game, and I
liked seeing that just from a soccer standpoint.
You have to get the talent on the field. Right.
And I definitely trust that. There was no hack
-a -shack. And I wonder if this is the result
of Peter Vermees no longer being in the league
and on the committee. Competition committee.
Competition committee where the league is realizing
if you want to have the kind of talent they want,
you can't have players out there just thugging
up and fouling players Peter Vermees style. Who
was the San Jose? Not Frankie Allup. Who was
the other one? No, because then he went to Houston.
Dom Kinnear. Dom Kinnear, which I actually don't
mind Dom Kinnear as much. But if you have people
doing that, you're not going to see the technical
greatness that is starting to come to this league
with the rise of South American players coming
in. No, and it's great to see coaches like Wilford
Nancy. and honestly you know i got respect for
greg vandy you know i think he he um i mean i'm
glad we didn't sign our coach to a multi -year
extension in the middle of a record -breaking
losing streak but hey you la galaxy yeah you
know uh will forever be funny to me uh speaking
of coaches and losing streaks um kind of some
scuttlebutt that we didn't really talk about
uh did you happen to catch that gonzalo pineda
stepped down as coach no yeah he he stepped down
he stepped down as the uh coach of atlas uh after
24 matches and i think they had just gone through
like five straight defeats and so yeah five straight
defeats all competitions yeah That's too bad.
I always want to see him, but maybe he comes
back to us as an assistant coach. This is a question
that I have for you. There are some people who
maybe aren't cut out to be head coaches, but
they're really talented people. Look at Precky,
for example. Precky, the only two -time MLS MVP,
one coach of the year. has steadily been an assistant
coach. I think he kind of found his niche. Dom
Kinnear, he settled into an assistant coaching
role for a while. He had some success as a head
coach. And Precky had success as a USL level,
right? One coach of the year as well. But that's
what I'm saying. But then he also had some really
not so successful stuff. So I guess that makes
me wonder. I think the... The discourse around
Gonzo was always, oh, man, can't wait for him
to be the next in line when when Brian Schmetzer
retires, you know, and like we loved Gonzo Pineda
here in Seattle. And I still do love Gonzo Pineda.
But the question was. And this kind of comes
into that that perception thing where it felt
like the discourse was around giving Gonzo a
lot of credit for certain aspects of the Sounders
attack. especially in that 2019 2020 years when
our attack was so good um but then when he left
there was a question of oh well our attack isn't
as good anymore you know as nico and raul were
starting to hit the downturns of their their
their careers and and so i guess it's just interesting
looking at it from a revisionist point of point
of view is It makes me question how much do we
really know as us on commentary? How much do
we really, really know? And I just want to acknowledge
that. See, I'm not going to say that because
I spent an entire season of Sounders 2 sitting
next to Brian and Pineda listening to them. They're
running commentary on every single game. And
he's got a brilliant soccer mind. Brian trusted
him and would listen to him. And that's something
that, not that he doesn't trust Freddy Juarez,
because obviously they make big changes at halftime,
but I think Gonzalo had a greater impact in deciding
who was going to start games and maybe on subbing,
which I think is the two weak points for Schmetzer.
So that's why I think I like him is I think he
keeps Schmetzer, which I mean, I think it's true
with anyone. It doesn't matter how good you are
at something. You need other people's voices.
And he was trained by Schmetzer. He was, his
entire coaching career is learning under Schmetzer.
Yeah. So I think he understands Schmetzer as
well. Schmetzer understands Schmetzer. So he
can sit there and give input in a way that other
players can't, other coaches, excuse me, can't.
And by the way, just for context, three of those
five, the League's Cup matches for Atlas, well,
going into League's Cup, they lost to Monterey.
That's a lot of people lose to Monterey, so that's
no big deal. They lost to Inter -Miami, they
lost to Orlando, and they lost to Atlanta United.
And so I know, but at the same time, I don't
know. Yeah, I wonder if it's kind of a sum of
all the parts there where maybe they just weren't
as good because they're sitting in 12th in the
Apertura, but they're only four games into the
season. I mean, all time, five wins, seven draws,
12 losses for Atlas over his whole career. Yeah,
but they also were 14th out of 18 teams in the
Klausura. uh so i just think that i just think
that maybe they they were not getting the uh
results that they they were hoping for i think
so um but that's gotta hurt he still lives in
the atlanta area apparently with his family so
to go into atlanta and lose that's rough yeah
that's too bad yeah and there's plenty of other
chances out there um but he he was not successful
atlanta or atlas which makes me go Maybe he's
not meant to be a head coach in terms of managing
personalities, personalities, the way that a
head coach has to. Yeah. I mean, that's one thing
that, you know, watching Brian, Brian was famously
fiery as an assistant coach under Ziggy Schmidt.
His role under Ziggy is different. in the way
he interacts with players as as what it appears
it is as a head coach um but it's just interesting
i mean i think you were there when i sat down
and talked to brian i mean i specifically asked
him what his style is to talk to players because
siggy yelled and schmidt said You do it based
on the player. There's players you don't need
to say anything. Ozzy, he literally said, Ozzy,
I literally just slipped the stats across the
table. Just slide the stats across the table.
And Ozzy's like, oh, yep, yep, okay. Yeah. I
mean, and that's, I mean, whereas obviously at
the end, I love Ziggy to death, but he lost the
locker room, especially Dempsey. And I think
there, I think, and it wasn't, it was just that
as he, How do I word this? Young people don't
like to get yelled at. That wasn't a thing that
worked anymore, I think. In the game, just passing
them by like that, that's just an age thing.
Just like I listen to some of the music. It's
interesting to see what Bruce Arena does. Yeah,
it's interesting to see Bruce Arena adjusting
and working. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, San
Jose's starting to pick it up now, though, so
something's working. Yes and no, because there's
a reason why. every time bruce changes teams
you know that within the next transfer window
certain players are going to get signed to that
team he's got his guys um there's a reason where
and and that's just natural i mean i and and
again i am not comparing myself to these coaches
but public we redraft every season i was a coach
for 14 seasons um before before stepping down
with my admin role as a as a director of the
league i realized that maybe coaching maybe just
give give other people a chance to do that uh
there were constantly players that were my my
players players that i would constantly draft
over and over and over again that's just just
kind of natural that's just kind of natural no
matter whether it's um you know high level uh
high level professional soccer or low level rec
league stuff and by low level i mean very very
low level i mean ziggy did it he brought in brad
evans he brought later brought in uh chad marshall
um it happens you have players that you know
you can trust on and off the field. And that
I think work - I mean, he brought in a whole
bunch of LA Galaxy people when our expansion
year. I mean, I do the same thing teaching. I
know there's students I can call on that will
lead the conversation in a way that's going to
make other people respond and have a good discussion.
I know how to massage my classroom and it's the
same thing, right? You're just doing it in the
locker room. Cameron, don't massage your students.
That's inappropriate. No, not literal, figurative.
Come on. Okay, okay, okay. Just checking, just
checking. Looking out for you. Too many people
getting laid off right now. Yeah, I got a lot
of teaching coming up, so I got to get on it.
All right. But, yeah, I mean, I think this is
a team we've seen that has, I mean, come on,
Tommy Dutra. Precky, we are blessed with an amazing
coaching staff. Yeah. I mean, even Freddy Juarez,
he left a head coaching gig to take on an assistant
coaching role. That doesn't happen. That just
doesn't happen. So back to the game. So we're
kind of a little side note there. Actually, before
we go back to the game, I'll just fast forward
to the end of the game. Christian Ramirez. la
galaxy player long time you know that uh was
shown on tv having a nice extended conversation
with precky after the game and i would love to
be a prop fly on the wall to hear what that conversation
was like i didn't see that that's interesting
yeah yeah i thought that i i wondered how much
of that was uh what kind of relationship they've
had in the past or or how much of that is respect
from uh you know from uh American soccer player
like Christian Ramirez wanting to maybe pick
the brain or just because they were definitely
having an engaging conversation that was it was
it was really fun to see I love I love those
little moments you know um yeah I just couldn't
figure out what the connection was between the
two of them and so so it made me made me wonder
yeah it's one of those things where um I mean
this is different but I think about like I was
reading Giroud had has as many goals in three
games with Lille as he had the entire time at
LAFC. And I feel like when you have a good coaching
staff who knows how to work with players and
knows how to make them better, other players
are going to want to work with you. And that's
something that LAFC didn't have. And you're looking
at Giroud who was used wrong, suddenly succeed.
So maybe Ramirez, not that he wants to come here,
but if you know each other or you, you have,
I mean, I think that's the kind of coaching staff
we have where they will sit down. I heard. I
interviewed the other day about Ziggy coming
into a coaching clinic. I wish I remembered where
I heard this. And they expected, oh yeah, I heard
it in a meeting I was in. This is from a former
player who coached locally. I think he was an
NASL or a USL player. And they expected Ziggy
to come just say a few things and leave. And
he ended up hanging out with them for hours and
gave them all advice. And like Seattle, we've
been very lucky with a coaching staff that is
there to teach. and make everyone around them
better. Yeah. So back to the game now for real.
25 minutes in, we get a great pass from De La
Vega into Rothrock, and what ends up going down
as an own goal, which... I'd have to take a closer
look at the replay. I don't know how much I agree
with that. It felt like a Paul Rothrock goal
to me, but it comes down to their own goal, and
Sounders are off to the ground running. They're
up 1 -0. Second straight game, Rothrock doesn't
get his kudos. I mean, I'm giving him a kudos.
He's giving his kudos. He doesn't get the stat.
I know. And for players like him where that could
be bonuses on the line, you know, that matters,
you know, like that matters. And Pedro assists
for what was an amazing ball that no one, I mean,
it was in a position where the goalie can't get
to it. That's the perfect ball every time. Yeah.
Yeah. And so I thought it was really good, really
good work there. 12 minutes later, Danny Mussofsky
gets his first goal of the game. Ends up with
two goals. And same thing. I just thought that
the Sounders were just looking really, really
good. Good first half. What were your takeaways
on the first half? Yeah, I mean, I was a little
frustrated with our play before that first goal,
but that goal was so early. It just felt like
we were a little sloppy, and Obed kept pushing
up even after that goal and felt like it was
a little bit of a rough game for him for a minute.
And I'm not sure if it because he was doing things
he doesn't typically do, which I'm actually in
favor of. He usually pushed up traditionally,
but he hadn't been. But everything seemed to
change once that goal went in. And we saw some
it felt like. After a slower start, that goal
opened it up in a way that allowed for what could
have been. I mean, I don't I think if they don't
blow the halftime whistle, we score again. Yeah,
I mean, he blew it on a corner, which is interesting.
But yeah, so I think, I mean, Obed was dispossessed
a couple times. That was a little unfortunate.
I feel like there's been some criticism, sustained
criticism of Obed and giveaways. I'm not entirely
sure I feel that. I'm not. I don't. He's been
solid since the Club World Cup. Like since that
started to me, this was him pushing forward in
a way that he hasn't been in any of the other
matches. And yeah, there were giveaways, but
that's what happens when you push forward. The
only one that really got me was his first, the
first one where if he passes it to Jesus, he's,
he's free on goal wide open and he didn't for
some reason. Yeah. There were a couple of moments
where. Yeah, I do think that there was a little
bit of that where you saw some opportunities
that were not taken advantage of, held onto a
ball a step too long, missed one pass that maybe
you chose the wrong pass decision. But as a whole,
he was getting himself in the position to have
that opportunity, which is not something we always
see from a center defensive mid. Yeah, because
no player is going to get that right every time.
So I think getting the opportunity more often
than not is going to be the way to go for sure.
Yeah, totally. Because the reality is just a
few minutes later, Obed, in the 33rd minute,
Obed makes a really nice pass over to De La Vega,
who's got the ball at the top of the box all
alone. Just tries to one -time it. It just kind
of comes off as a flub. De La Vega just didn't
have a great shot there, but Obed springs him
into this beautiful opportunity. So I think Obed
is... I think the team and Obed are making some
really smart plays. So, I mean, we're... you
know we're 37 minutes into the game sounders
are having an eight to two shot advantage against
la galaxy they're just they're just rolling and
they're up one nothing when that's when um that's
when danny gets played a pass into the box he
takes the shot it gets saved and he immediately
follows up his goal his shot with a with a tapping
Um, but that's Rothrock with the really nice
pass to, to play him on side. And, uh, and there
we go. We just were up to nothing at that point.
And it was great. Cause we've seen that a lot
from Danny where he doesn't make the best decisions
in terms of shot, but that shot itself, although
saved. was shot in a way that the goalie had
no choice but to reach out and he was never going
to get a clean save on it it had to ricochet
yeah unless yeah he he had no chance to catch
it so he either had to parry it he had to parry
it in a direction and he just made the wrong
decision there yeah but but what i liked about
that is you saw the ball come on to danny's foot
and he swung and one -timed it on that shot like
it it was it was in stride like that's how good
that pass was oh yeah beautiful pass i mean he
breaks uh he breaks three defenders uh and danny
danny times the run beautifully and and yeah
no it's just really really well -weighted pass
that that curls around the defenders and falls
right into a good spot for danny loved it Just
really, really good stuff there. And at that
point, both the goalie and the center defender
for LA Galaxy are surrender co -brewing. And
you're just watching the body language of LA
Galaxy. You're hearing the boo birds from LA
Galaxy supporters. It's just everyone is like,
ah, shit, here we go again. We suck. As an away
team, you love to see it. Yeah, yeah. It was,
I mean, I was at that point 2 -0. I was still
like, it's not over, considering how many goals
we've given up this season and how dangerous
their front three are. Although Nacia Mento,
I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right. I
mean, he had, they talked about it at halftime.
He was not getting touches. We successfully shut
him down in a way that it didn't allow the wings
to be able to get him the ball and, or vice versa
that made them far more dangerous. You saw a
paint still go up the left a few times and that
we, you saw him do the same things in the lease
cup where he scored on these plays, but our defenders
were able to successfully just force them outside
a little bit. to an angle where he just couldn't
get that shot on goal. He was doing the exact
same stuff. Yeah, to your point, Nascimento had
the least amount of touches of any outfielder
player to play 90 minutes. He had 18 touches
in 90 minutes. Wow. Just talk about just a quiet
game. I mean, he's a 21 -year -old. He's going
to learn. you gotta learn how in games like this
how to how to make an impact on the game and
i just i just think the sounders did everything
right there um i mean i mean shit we're going
to talk about this once we start getting into
the second half and now it's kind of a good transition
point to get to the second half but in the end
we do use all five subs we use four of the five
by the 73rd minute, which is awesome. But all
five subs, I would say none of them were defensive
subs. We sub on Danny Leyva, Kalana Kosi -Rienzi
for Pedro, Snyder Brunel for Jesus, Osase de
Rosario for Danny, and Georgie Menungo for Paul
Rothrock. So we gave, you know, LA Galaxy did
not give our defense any... you know, challenge
really. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, although I like,
I like a player like KKR coming in because he
is defensive. He's a. Offensive minded defender.
I'll put it that way. So even though you're putting
him in at the wing, he has the ability to drop
back and add a little more pressure defensively,
especially. Would you call it like a Joven Jones
type of role? Like the modern Jover Jones role
where, or even, even Brad Smith, where sometimes
he'd come up on the wing. Yeah. And, and, and
not. Yeah. And we see, we see RBW do that as
well. I mean, we've seen other players do that,
but that's, that's something that, that. schmetzer
loves the club does that's yeah that that that
is a club trait for sure a schmetzer trait i
think you're right um so second half we're up
to nothing to start and we are um facing a little
bit of pressure to start i think la galaxy came
out the second half got a got nasia mente got
his one really good shot at the top of the box
um thomas makes a good save But for the most
part, I think they just really shut them down.
Not the defensive back four. And Andy Thomas
just did a great job of minimizing opportunities.
But then, yeah, so we're in the 54th minute.
And Danny Musavsky gets his second of the night.
And it's just the way it's going for LA Galaxy.
They just can't buy any good luck. Pedro one
-touches the ball to Jesus at the top of the
box. Gets it over to Danny who takes... I'm sorry.
Jesus took the shot, right? Is that what happened
there? Jesus takes the shot and the rebound just
spills out. Yeah, Jesus takes the one time shot
and Danny's just all alone at the top of the
box to to clean up the rebound into an empty
net. Just like Danny's like half jogging even
before he puts it in the net, just knowing that
this is this is a goal. Yeah. Yeah. It just just
poachers goal. And we talked about Danny in this
regards earlier in the season and the. This run
of form really kind of puts it together. You're
really seeing Danny doing the hard work in a
Chris Wondolowski kind of way. Chris Wondolowski
scored a lot of goals in this league and didn't
always look like the most dangerous player, but
put himself in great positions. And I think Danny,
when he's at his best, is doing a lot of those
same things. What would you think about that?
Yeah, I would have been surprised before the
season if we had said that was going to be the
case. But yeah, I think that's a good analysis
now. Just because last year he struggled so much
to really get minutes, let alone have an impact
when he did get minutes. But we're seeing this
year just being that ultimate poacher. Yeah.
Yeah, and making some really good... drawing
those defenders in a way that allow our really
good passing band of three to pick people apart.
And what's even better is the more Danny is getting
on the score sheet, the more the defense has
to pay more attention to him, which just... lather,
rinse, repeat. These goals are repeatable goals.
I mean, but that's the beauty of it. When Osaze
came in, they had to stay on him for the same
reason because he's been scoring, right? Like
they couldn't just go, oh, he's not going to
score because he's just a big lumbering guy.
No, like they have to worry about him as an entity
now, even though he didn't score. I mean, if,
and same with Georgie, if Georgie doesn't go
on that run, Snyder Brunel isn't that wide open
on his goal. Oh yeah. And let's, let's talk about
that fourth goal. Well, Snyder Brunel comes in,
he, he takes a shot. um just maybe a minute before
his goal he takes his first mls shot and it is
it is a miss it is it is nowhere near um yeah
but what's beautiful about that that shot is
you know the team's just like okay let's let's
get the next one you know no body language wise
no one's down everyone's just kind of like okay
let's let's roll and um And then what ends up
happening is we end up just seconds later, just
seconds later, here comes Georgie, like you said,
having that opportunity coming off under the
wing and making that cross assist in that prime
assist zone. I'm sorry, not Georgie, Alex. Alex
is the one that makes that assist. Yeah, so Georgie
was on the one that allowed, that opened up the
middle of the field for Snyder to be the first
one to get to the top of the box. Yeah, because
it's a 1 -2 where for that fourth goal, it's
just really well done. So we end up with Christian
playing it over to KKR. uh kkr putting it into
alex over over into the the the end line and
alex just every everyone in the sounders just
continuing to play where the galaxy are just
kind of caught ball watching just thinking that
the ball is going to go out of play they don't
have to chase it down uh thinking that uh whether
they're focused on georgie whether they're focused
like just like if you pause the shot right at
the point that alex if you pause the ball right
at the point that alex makes that cross you got
georgie at the top of the six you've got kkr
near the top of the box with an opportunity you've
got one two three four five six la galaxy defenders
in the box against five sounders and yet there's
three sounders in position to be the first person
to the ball. And that's just a defense that gave
up. That just gave up on the play. And I mean,
Osaze, what's really fun is that the players
in the box, it's Georgie, Osaze, KKR, and Snyder
Brunel. Just all in the box, hungry. And, and
looking for that goal. And I mean, you love to
see that it's it's just, it just makes me so
happy. Those little things that the team's doing
really well, because so often in a game like
this, where, where, where you have the three
nothing lead and you're making these subs so
many times you, you lose cohesion and that's
where you give up that goal that ends the shutout
and makes the, you know, makes the game a little
less fun. But here, they just kept picking up
where they left off, where the starters left
off. And I thought the Sounders did a really
great job of that today. And I'm just so happy
that those young guys get that reward. Yeah,
I mean, we've seen that from KKR all season,
that he has that ability. We've seen Osaze come
out of his shell and really start to shine with
Liska. But we see Georgie also have that impact.
he lost some minutes because of some of his play
and then uh and then the red card although stupid
obviously didn't have an impact other than him
in a game like he's going to miss what the semifinal
no no he already no no he already missed it he
missed that yeah yeah that's right because because
he would have um him coming on off the bench
against uh santos he was he was in line to get
the start against against uh tawana and and And
that's the messaging, if I'm Brian, is you shot
yourself in the foot, kid. You don't know how
many opportunities you're going to get. You can't
take away those opportunities. And when you score
the goal, yeah. Yeah, and it doesn't need to
be more than that, right? Like, clearly knew
who got the message. Yeah, he's been fantastic
since he's come back. Brian made clear. He doesn't
need to earn our trust necessarily. I mean, he
does, but he needs to more earn the player's
trust on the field. And he's done that. And I
think Georgie, same thing. So giving them those
chances to go out there and succeed. And that's
another reason why the Ryan Kent injury is so
frustrating. He was doing the same thing where
you're seeing him out there drawing fouls and
just having this ability that, I mean, Georgie
has it, but some of our other players aren't
good at drawing fouls that way because they don't
know. You don't play that game, right? In the
MLS, you're not taught to like, because when
you get fouled, you don't always go down. I mean,
I think of so many times where Nate Jaqua, if
he had just gone down when he was fouled in the
box, he would have had so many penalties, but
he was just a big lumbering dude who wouldn't
go down. But it was also a different era of MLS
where those calls weren't always being made anyways.
But then you look at the Converse, you look at
Dempsey and their Nico, where they knew how to
get those fouls in dangerous free kick spots.
They were really good at that. But yeah, knew
who's been really good. I think the club is just
in a really good spot right now. It's going to
be a really interesting match next week against
Minnesota. This is a big, big match. This is
a match where we have the opportunity to jump
into third place. We have a game in hand on Minnesota,
so no matter what happens in this game, we're
going to still have that game in hand. But wouldn't
it be nice to be level on points with the game
in hand against them? I feel like this week a
lot of results went our way. A lot of teams above
us in the standings lost or drew. And so it was
wonderful to see us taking advantage of that.
And really getting the result that we needed.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a big road win leading
to another big road game. And it's not a must
win, obviously. But it sure puts the Sounders
in a really good position moving forward. Because
you're not getting a bunch of games against the
teams ahead of you moving forward. Except for
Vancouver. You know what I mean? The standings
are such that we've played... the teams ahead
of us. So this is a big win, a chance for a win.
You know, a point would be fine, but the fact
that we have a chance to get a win and move even
with them in the, in the MLS standings in third
place is huge. Especially cause we'd like to,
number one, we'd like to be top two. I think
it's going to be hard to catch San Diego, but
we would like to be top two when the end of the
season ends with 10 games left. it's doable to
catch san diego but we're gonna need some help
uh the other thing is right now we're lined up
to play portland in the playoffs and if we could
just avoid that that would be wonderful i'm assuming
with their dp leaving uh and some stuff like
that but i just don't i just can't let's not
play them in the playoffs again if we can help
it well we are we are in good shape i think that
the way We've been playing since Club World Cup.
I think the biggest takeaway from the Club World
Cup is you gave our team competitive matches
against three of the world's top teams. You know,
just fantastic stuff. And the club really learned
a lot of great lessons from that, including self
-confidence and their own abilities. And now
they're imposing their will on other teams. And
I love seeing that. And I hope that continues.
Eventually, we're going to drop a result. We're
going to lose a game. It's going to happen. Are
we? We might not. I mean, you know, there's a
funny part. I mean, the funny part is, though,
I was going to say, hey, just remember that when,
you know, to not be all doom and gloom. Because
our last, you know, our basically since, man,
since May, you know, since May, the last three
months. we've been on like a 70 72 point average
if you're not counting the three club world cup
games yeah which i'm not gonna count you know
so i mean look at who we're playing minnesota
this is the big this is one of two i think big
matches puebla well yeah because we've got we
got pueblo but then then we got sporting kansas
city we should win but yeah skc we should win
salt lake we should win galaxy obviously we should
win at inner miami is going to be tough Austin,
we should win. Home versus Vancouver, we should
win. Home versus Portland, we should win. No,
no, no, no, no, no. No, those are both road.
Not. Nope. No, you're right. You're right. Those
are homes. Those are both homes. And then we're
at New York City. That's such a weird one. How
did you schedule an inter -conference game for
decision day? I know. You didn't need to do that.
It's weird. But, I mean. From this, I mean, the
Inter -Miami game is going to be tough because
it's in Miami. They obviously aren't going to
lose every game 4 -1 like they just did to Orlando.
They're good at home. I think a lot will depend
on where they are. I mean, there's still, what,
four games left after that, so they will need
some points there. Most likely, they're not just
going to run away with the supporter shield,
right, like they did last year. mean galaxy is
always going to be tough but based on what we're
seeing this year we should win all these games
i don't want to play galaxy in leagues cup right
because that means we play them three times in
uh a month yeah and and and a month and especially
when you just when you just dismantled them like
that yeah um yeah It's like I was playing Cruz
Azul the third time. We might need to play Inter
-Miami twice in a row as well if they make it
to the final and we make it to the final. Yeah,
but it'd be here at home. Oh, against Miami it'd
be at home? Yeah. That's good. We have home field
advantage to the rest of League's Cup with the
exception of if we play the Galaxy. Oh, interesting.
I wonder why that is. Okay. So here's, here's,
I actually looked up a shocker. I looked up the,
the FIFA rules committee handbook. Yeah. So here's,
here's how this works. So with leagues cup, how
it went down was they wanted to give, there's
a reason that like the America versus Portland
game was in Austin, you know, like, well, that
doesn't make sense. They wanted to give some
of the big four teams in Mexico, some. quote
-unquote home games right like the cruz azul
game was a home game for cruz azul even though
it was in seattle yeah so once we got to the
knockout round the host privileges were as follows
because la galaxy won mls cup every game they
get is at home no matter what so that that's
the order of operations so la galaxy are at home
period as the as the host i yeah that's just
how it is now club america one seed except for
if we play la galaxy what a dumb tournament well
club america as the league mx champions will
have host privileges through the semi -finals
other than for matches against the galaxy just
only through the semi -finals so so yeah cruz
azul Same thing. Hosting privileges through the
semifinals against matches other than LA Galaxy,
obviously, doesn't matter. No, they're out. Yeah.
They did it because they were the highest -ranking
Liga MX club in the League's Cup ranking table.
Okay. Then that goes through the semifinals.
But then through the quarterfinals only, then
Toluca, Tigres, Monterey, and Pumas have... hosting
privileges um which would be in certain markets
i think in uh like oh that'd be in austin or
la or wherever that that that how that works
i don't think it would have been literally at
their home stadium but i could be wrong about
that um but in the end there i think the idea
is With Leagues Cup, because all the games are
being played in the U .S., they wanted to try
and give some sort of benefit to top Liga MX
teams, I think. So I get the mindset to a degree.
But because Club America is out, because Cruz
Azul is out, we can ignore that whole side. And
because we're not playing Tigres, Monterey, Pumas,
or Toluca, we don't have to worry about that.
So what we did in this tournament is meaningless,
essentially. No, no, no, no. It's very meaningful.
Well, it's meaningless against LA Galaxy. Even
though we were better than them, we were the
number one seed. We still have to play at LA
Galaxy, which, you know, isn't as scary as normal,
but it's annoying. I just think it's why it doesn't
make sense to me because... You used that kind
of stuff to set up the tournament, and I understand
on the Liga MX side, but why are you still throwing
bones to LA now when they didn't deserve it?
They didn't do as well. I mean, granted, they
were in the hardest group probably, just like
we were, because we had to play Cruz Azul. Yeah.
But then again, we also had to play Santos, which
was absolute garbage. They're such ass. And yet
they... Played a lot better against us than Tijuana
did, but we struggled against them. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So in the end, it's really...
Our results mattered in the first round, in Phase
1. If we play LA Galaxy, it's not that different
than US Open Cup, where it's a blind draw on
these things. um but at least here there's only
one team one game in which we wouldn't host we
host the rest of the way and so so so are we
rooting against la galaxy then i am yeah i am
for especially because in the unlikely scenario
in which we lose our next game um i do not want
a team that has the potential to win open cup
or mls cup uh that's who i want to advance in
leagues cup only because i want to qualify for
champions league so eliminating teams that would
be below us is always a thing yeah i mean i think
this is our best shot for not not that we don't
have other shots but this is our best shot for
champions league right here we're two wins away
We're two wins away from Champions League because
if we win this next game where we are the biggest
favorite in the next round of League's Cup, knock
on wood, but that's just a reality because we
are expected to beat Pueblo. They're not in great
form. They just had a good run of games in League's
Cup. They're the only team that's not the top.
I mean, the other three teams from Mexico are
the top three teams in Mexico. I don't know about
after this weekend's games, but prior to this
weekend, they were the top three teams on the
table. And Puebla is not. But then if we beat
Puebla, then we will be guaranteed at the very
least to play in the third place game. Because
there's a third place game because the winner
of the third place game gets a Champions League
spot. Yeah. So if we win against Puebla, we play
the winner of LA and Pachuca. And if we win at
LA or hosting Pachuca, we play in the final.
If we lose, we go to the third place game. Correct.
So if we win against Puebla, we are guaranteed
an opportunity. for a one game and you're in
to champions league it's so funny because on
the brackets it would we should be hosting like
we're the we're the higher up team just yeah
but then the rules cut it out like because we
would be the top meaning up of the you know soccer
that the team on the top is the home team unlike
every other american sport uh but yeah so it's
so yeah so if you get top three in league you're
what you're saying is we get top three in league's
cup you're guaranteed a spot in champions league
Correct. The top three teams are in Champions
League. Okay. Which means you likely, I mean,
if you make it through, it's Toluca, Orlando,
Miami, Tigris. So if we make it to a third base
game, we're probably playing Toluca, Orlando,
and then hopefully not Tigris. Who knows? This
Tigris team is not the same Tigris team of years
past. Right, but they're playing decent. But
all of these teams are going to be games. With
that said, there's no one in this bracket that,
and I think the Sounders have the same attitude,
there's no one in this bracket who is scarier
than the teams that the Sounders have already
played this season. right but tigris did just
beat puebla seven nothing on friday which is
why um true but at the same time how much of
that was just reserves against reserves that
in that i don't know and they and the red card
was there was only one goal after the red card
so it was they had six goals before a red card
came out so i don't know because both of them
just played three games in america and they had
to play to win because they they all needed to
they knew they needed a result to it to to go
into the knockout round so so this very well
losses though so i mean they're not they're at
they're near the bottom of the table they're
16 out of 18 right now oh yeah no but what i'm
saying is i i as i just don't believe i just
can't believe that um that that that these teams
put on their starting 11. What I'm saying is
that game could have been like the Sounders -LAFC
game earlier this season where we scored the
five goals, but it was really a test of which
team had better depth because both of us were
in the middle of a Champions League run. Yeah.
Well, I mean, there's an easy way to do that
is to look at their starting lineups from previous
matches, but, you know, I guess I can pull that
up right now. So, I mean, we don't know. I already
have that match pulled up, so I can tell you
as soon as the last Pachuca score pulls up here.
I mean, Puebla, excuse me, score pulls up here.
If we're scrolling up, who was the last time
they played? It looks like they played Montreal
in a 2 -1 win. And looking at their starters
side by side. Well, I'll tell you what. I've
got their season average starting 11 up. Well,
I know who they started against Montreal, which
was what put them through, right? No, no, no.
Give me their starting 11 against Tigres. All
right, so Rodriguez and Goal. Wait, yes. Rodriguez
and Goal, who is their regular starter. They
played three at the back instead of four, which
is what they had previously been playing. So
they played Diaz, Fedorko, and Ray, who are none
of their regular starters, it looks like. Okay.
They played Perez, Moyano, and Gamara in the
middle, which, again, not their regular players.
Ochoa, Organista, and O 'Gonzalez up front. which
is like not their regular play. Yeah, and then
Marin up top, who's not who they've been starting.
So interesting. They did bring players off the
bench, their starters off the bench, though,
it looks like, and got them some minutes. So
it was a mostly rotated squad. I would have been
very curious to see that 50th minute, 50th to
60th minute, 51st minute, 55th minute, 58th minute,
three goals for Teague. Yep, third one being
an own goal. Just, just, yeah. Yeah. So yeah.
I mean, it interesting, interesting that maybe
they both rotated. I can't, I can't, I don't
know enough about Tigris either, but seven, nothing
is a lot. Luckily they don't play us next. I
wouldn't, I don't want to face a team right after
they've lost seven, nothing. Yeah, that's fair.
I think, I think that, I think that's very fair.
But. Unfortunately, we're the ones that are doing
that kind of damage. We're not the ones that
have to deal with the aftermath. Right. So we
beat LA Galaxy 4 -0. We play Minnesota coming
up this Saturday evening in Minnesota. Huge game.
Chance to tie them because it's our game in hand.
Got to win those games in hands if you want to
be successful. What are you expecting to see
from the Sounders in that match? Well, we know
that Minnesota is an interesting team where they
don't like possession. And so I expect the Sounders
to have a lot of possession. So this is a game
where it would be really fucking nice if the
Sounders had Albert Rosnack. I'm guessing we're
not going to have Albert Rosnack. No, he definitely
won't. I don't think it's enough time, even if
his injury is the minimum time. Because I think
three weeks was what they thought would be minimum
based on it. We don't know the extent of the
injury, sadly. Yeah, and this is that game earlier
in the season. This is the game where the Sounders
kind of had momentum throughout the game, except
for that 10 -minute stretch where just chaos
happened. Just absolute chaos where, same thing,
in the 50th to the 60th minute, there were four
goals. Minnesota scores to make it one, nothing.
Rienzi scores three minutes later than Minnesota
scores. Or I'm sorry, Minnesota scores to make
it one, nothing. Minnesota scores a penalty to
make it two, nothing. We score immediately on
the first kick after that. And then they score
on like the first possession after that. So like
four goals and like in like six minutes, just
a weird, weird game. So I don't, necessarily
expect that to happen again. But that was also
a game where we started Jonathan Bell and Cosa
Rienzi in the back four. Great. I mean, Bell's
a great player. Depth on our team. I don't see
him starting, though, considering... No. So,
you know, Bell's now fourth on the depth chart
again. Yeah. So I do expect our back four. Oh,
because you're also thinking about, I mean, because
what you've got to remember is, so we've got
the game against Minnesota, and then four days
later will be the Puebla game. So the worst part
is both games are important. And so. And Pueblo
will have five days off. They'll get an extra
day's rest before our game. So, wow. I don't
know what the play is. I think... I think you've
got to go in. I mean, if you want the right positioning.
Because I don't see... With the week off, because
we have the week off now, that's why I think
it's okay. If we didn't, then I think it's okay.
Because then with the week off, then you're like,
okay, well, we're going to play two games in
five days. Right. And then the next game is where
you – was it KC after that? Yeah. I mean – Pueblo
is playing San Luis, who lost 2 -1 to Cruz Azul
tonight. I mean, you're not wrong. And yeah,
they may just go full best starting 11, both
games. I think it'll depend on, I mean, goalie,
I think is up for question. Alex Diaz threw a
question in about that in the mailbag. Do we
think he's coming back? We've already kind of
discussed that. I want to know, do you think
that we're going to, I mean, I saw someone on
our discord talk about how terrible Ferreira
was at the 10 and Schmetzer talked about how
great he was at the 10. Now one did it. One did
it at halftime versus the end of the game, so
that perhaps changes some minds. But yeah, I
mean, was he Russ Nat good? No. But he seemed
pretty solid to me. Creating five chances, got
four shots. Seven touches in the opposition box.
Successful dribble, four for four on crosses.
I don't see it. I don't see where the challenge
is, three for four on ground duels. I don't see
the criticism. Yeah, I mean, I think I understand
the criticism of him in general over time, especially
he's missed some easy goals. But we have seen
him have great success on the right. I think
he's been most successful since he settled in
on the right mid. If he can take that and play
at that level at center attacking mid, because
of the depth we have on the right, I don't think
we really miss this. I mean, I love Rusnak. I
don't think we miss a step, though. I think Jesus
can step in and create danger from that position.
I think he's much more effective on the squad
as a 10 than as a 9. Yeah, oh, I agree with that
100%. Although when he did play nine, he was
playing as a second striker more than as a traditional
number nine. But I guess I'm just saying that
I don't see a problem with... I don't see a problem
with how... We have no better option at this
point, I think. I mean, they played Danny up
there in a match. I mean, I think we saw Danny...
uh i think we've seen more success and it's because
of danny's passing ability but we traditionally
have seen more success of him as a center defensive
mid who comes forward than we've ever seen of
him as a center attacking mid yeah but but at
the same time we got the um you know jesus i
think has been coming on strong over the last
month and a half yep uh he's he's at three goals
four assists in league play uh that doesn't take
into account this cup yeah that's true Yeah.
I mean, I think, I think, I think if he, I mean,
and Schmetzer talked about that, he struggled
in the beginning, but he's here and he's doing
well. And I think it shows. And we have a bunch
of Sounders players who struggle to score and
stretches, and then they start scoring. And that's,
I think the nature of being a scoring player,
especially in the MLS. You're not Wando. Not
everyone's Wando. You're not going to be the
all -time leading scorer in MLS history, right?
We get it from all over. And that's how it's
going to be with this team because we don't have
a true number nine target. That's just how it
is going to be. And so I think you're going to
see success for different players at different
times. As long as we're scoring two to three
goals a game, we'll be fine. And I mean, and,
and to take that for all comps while he's got
three goals, four assists in league play, he's
got four goals and seven assists in all comps
this season. Yeah. I think it's some of the misses
have been so frustrating that like wide open
goals that they stand out rather than the ones
he has scored or the assists he has made. You
know what I mean? It's the moment. It just seems
like a Rorschach test of how you're just a self
-fulfilling prophecy of what your preconceived
notion is. That's just my thought. Not for me,
because I am very pro -Jesus, but I get frustrated
with his misses. I think he is one of the best
players on our team, and I would rather have
him out there than not. Maybe not at right mid.
That's why I'm really hoping center attacking
mid works out because I want Rothrock on the
right. Yeah. All right, so Minnesota, give me
a score. I always like to wait until I see the
final lineup, but assuming a strong lineup against
Minnesota. I felt like we controlled play really
well last time we played them. I thought we matched
up well. We had a few moments of just that, like
I said, that 10 -minute stretch was just really
fucking weird. I don't see that happening again.
I think we eke out a 2 -1 victory. Ooh, I like
that. I'm actually going to say the same thing.
I think we should be continuing to score at least
two goals a game. Of course, I would like three,
but... Let's keep it going. Agreed. Agreed. I
like it. I like it. So I think that's a good
list. We've kind of flown through the second
half here and gotten real long. Our listeners
are going to be happy. They love the long episodes.
Aaron's going to be annoyed when he edits. But
you know what, Aaron? You don't have to listen
to the episode when you edit. Just put it up
there. Assume that everything we are saying is
perfect. I mean, it is. Yeah. We're saying it.
Yeah. Come on. So where can they find you on
the internet? Come join us at the Sounders Scuttlebutt
Discord, where I am actually named Nicholas.
You can find me on Instagram at Cascades2C. And
how about yourself? Yeah, LegalMindedPunk on
all platforms, except for maybe Mastodon. I probably
have an account on there. I don't know. LO? I
don't think I use LO. Uh, yeah. Sounder scuttlebutt.
Uh, give us a listen, give us a rating, tell
your friends, let's get these, uh, we did bounce
back. We had a couple, I think people were a
little frustrated for a bit there. And so our
listens went down a little bit. Um, but keep
those listeners coming, man. Keep, keep telling
your friends. Cause the more listeners we get,
uh, you know, the more fun it is because we get
to interact with you. So come on the discord,
be a part of the community. It's a fun community.
Sounder scuttlebutt. What did I say? Sounder
Scudderbutt, Seattle's favorite soccer podcast.
That's my new slogan. Oh, keep an eye out for
us too. I think we need to do some flyers and
stuff. We may start being, you can come see us
inside the stadium at MLS matches. So look for
us outside of Section 120 where we'll have flyers
for you to give to your friends to listen to.
Sounds like fun. Take it away, James. All right.
Yeah. Good times. You can follow the Sounders
Scuttlebutt Podcast on Twitter at SSFCScuttlebutt.
And for all inquiries, including questions for
the gents or sponsorship opportunities, please
email contact at scuttlebuttproductions .com.
Be sure to subscribe to the show for new episodes
following every Sounders FC match. And don't
forget to share your feedback by rating and reviewing.
And you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and
Facebook at BritVoxus. That's Brit Vox US. We'll
see you at Lumen and go Sounders. Alexa, who's
the best MLS team of all time? Seattle Sounders
are both unequivocally and irreparably the best
MLS team of all time.